Xponance Inc. Purchases 93,296 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 439,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 93,296 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $7,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in PG&E by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 45,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PG&E by 5.5% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. Lumbard & Kellner LLC grew its position in PG&E by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC now owns 26,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in PG&E by 10.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PG&E Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of PCG opened at $16.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $14.71 and a 12-month high of $18.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.82.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 9.24%. The business had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on PG&E from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.78.

About PG&E

PG&E Corporation, through its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, engages in the sale and delivery of electricity and natural gas to customers in northern and central California, the United States. It generates electricity using nuclear, hydroelectric, fossil fuel-fired, fuel cell, and photovoltaic sources.